Today I began the last day of my first Henderson, Kentucky visit at South Heights Elementary—home of the Dolphins! I performed in front of two gigantic enthusiastic crowds. The first session with the Kinder, 1st, and 2nd graders was loads of fun and they made some incredible animal noises at the end (as part of my song, at my coxing, mind you). The primary kids don’t just do that for no reason…as far as I know.
We began the second session a little early so I had time to field extra questions from all the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. They had tons of questions and really kept me on my toes by asking me not one, not two, but three insightful questions I’ve never been asked before. A new record!
After a brief lunch of some delicious Kentucky BBQ (thanks Mrs. Swanson and Mrs. Herron), we swung over to Cairo Elementary—home of the Owls! The entire school was decorated with a superhero theme. There were superhero art projects, life-size stand-ups, superhero I.D.s, and even a dark cityscape mural.
But right off the bat, I got to meet the winners of an art contest where I was allowed to sign their piece. And now it’s going to be hung in the school library. Fantastic job, Avery and Brooklyn!
After each of my shows at Cairo, all of the students wore Batman masks for a posed picture with me (I got one, too!). However, Instead of saying “cheese,” I made sure everyone used their best Christian Bale, over-the-top, gravelly voice to say, “I’m Batman.” Okay, that was mainly for my own amusement. Pretty funny having over a hundred kids doing that at the same time.
Thanks to Mrs. Overton for having me out to South Heights. Thanks to Mrs. Whitson for having me over at Cairo. Thanks to Mr. Powers and Miss Jill for all the tech support. Thanks again to Mrs. Herron for driving me all over Henderson, taking pictures, and listening to my show eight times in a row. Another big thanks to Mrs. Swanson and Henderson County Schools for inviting me to all your great campuses. And a super-big thanks to all the South Heights Dolphins and Cairo Owls! You all helped make a memorable last day for my first trip to Kentucky!
My first ever school visit in Kentucky was this morning at East Heights Elementary in Henderson, KY—home of the Hawks! I was welcomed by gigantic LEGO decorations as soon as I walked in the door. But that wasn’t all. Before each of my two presentations, I got a show!
Each class performed a skit giving me clues for the game “Which Book Did They Read?”. I only got most of them right (what can I say, I’ve written over a hundred books and I forgot some of the titles). This was the first time I got a show and it was very entertaining!
For lunch, Mrs. Herron and I zipped over to Niagara Elementary—home of the Wildcats—where we had lunch with the winners of the school-wide contest where students could draw, sculpt, and build art pieces inspired by my books. There were some creative works of art out there. Congratulations again and it was great having lunch with you: Adrianna, Allie, Alyssa, Blaze, Carter, Emma, Ethan, Lafe, Lilly, Maria, Marissa, Molly, Payton, Rayna, Sophie, Tucker, and Wyatt!
After my two shows at Niagara, I got to tour some of the rest of the Wildcats’ art, including a creative LEGO collage project. Great job, everyone!
Thanks to Mrs. Buley for having me out to East Heights and to Mrs. Rone for having me out at Niagara. Thanks to the East Heights front office staff for the cool LEGO hallway decoration. Thanks to Mrs. Herron for driving me and for taking all the great photos.Thanks to Mrs. Swanson for inviting me to the district and for dinner. And a big thanks to all the East Heights Hawks and Niagara Wildcats for making my first day in Kentucky an enjoyable one!
[UPDATE] I’d also like to thank the East Heights 2nd graders for all the creative thank you cards. What a wonderful surprise!
Today I was back in the Jeffco school district to spend the day (and evening) at Thomson Elementary in Arvado, Colorado—home of the Thomson Tigers! I had a fun time with everyone during my presentations, and all the Tigers were enthusiastic audiences. But the day didn’t end there…
That evening, I was fortunate enough to be a part of Thomson’s “I Can & I Will” Family Learning Night! There were many cool workshops and activities including a photo booth, a fire safety workshop, a structural engineer activity (which was way more fun than it sounds, actually), musical dominos, a drama workshop, and more. I even gave a writing workshop to several winners from a drawing that day.
Thanks for coming to my workshop, Brittany, Chelsie, Dakota, Danika, Davan, Dayton, Emma, Emma, Ernie, Katie, Kera, Presley, Rylee, Savana, Sophia, Spirit, Taylor, and the few others who got out before I could get your name and picture.
Thanks to Mrs. Pereira for inviting me. Thanks to Mr. Goodman for all the sound support and setup. Thanks to Mrs. Knicklelbein for all the wonderful help throughout the day. Thanks to Mrs. Baoman for taking pics that evening. And a big thanks to all the Thomson Tigers and Thomson Tiger parents who came out tonight. I hope everyone had as much fun at the school today as I did!
Today, I was back in my old stomping grounds, visiting Brinker Elementary in Plano, TX! I lived in Plano for several years when working on Wishbone and it’s always fun to come back and visit. And today I got to visit with some of the Brinker Bears—Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade, to be precise.
I performed four shows in the library, and Mrs. Bader of the PTA had printed out my autographed bookmarks, so everyone got one after the show. All right, Bears…since you’ll have my website address in hand, I’m expecting some great questions in my email inbox when I get home!
Thanks to Mrs. Bader and the Brinker PTA for having me out and for lunch. Thanks to Mrs. Ruggiere for taking photos and filling in as librarian (get well soon, Ms. Miller). And a big thanks to all the Brinker Kinder, 1st, and 2nd graders! Keep reading and keep writing!
Today I spent St. Patrick’s day at Walker Elementary—the last stop on my Crandall ISD tour! With my many flame shirts, I might have seemed out of luck when it came to showing up in proper attire. Luckily, I had a green flame shirt ready to go! Referring to my own memories of elementary school, I wasn’t taking any chances going to school without wearing green.
I had a fun time performing three more shows and again was delighted by the amount of young writers in attendance. I even met a young writer who had written (and illustrated) THREE books during the previous week of spring break. Great job James Charles!
Thanks and happy St. Patrick’s day to all the great students at Walker Elementary! Thanks to Coach Story, Mrs. Hoffman, Mrs. Roberson, Mrs. Silvey, and Mrs. Gonzales for all the help. And one more big thanks to Mrs. Dye for having me out (and for sitting through all nine of my shows). If any student in any of the Crandall schools was absent during one of my visits, just ask Mrs. Dye about it. I bet she has my show memorized by now!
Day two of my Crandall cruise had me at Wilson Elementary! When I entered the school, (before I was greeted by hundreds of happy students) I was greeted with all kinds of cool Star Wars decorations…throughout the entire school! Anyone who has seen my show knows that I’m a big fan. It turns out that the decorations were there as encouragements for the upcoming STAAR test. So, they were STAAR WARS decorations, as it were. Very cool!
I had another set of three fun shows and another delicious pot luck lunch with the staff. The kids were excited and the staff was welcoming—a great day two!
Thanks again to Mrs. Dye for having me out. Thanks to Mrs. Blunt, Mr. Bowie, and Mrs. Perkins for all the help. Thanks to everyone who brought food for another tasty lunch. And a big thanks to all the Wilson Elementary students themselves. Thanks for the fun day and good luck on your STAAR tests. You’re going to do great!
Today was my first day of my short tour of Crandall ISD, beginning with…Martin Elementary in Crandall, TX! I had a fun time performing for all the students and everyone had big energy, insightful questions, and loud pig snorts, duck quacks, and dragon roars! Since the gym was so close to the front of the school, I hope they didn’t scare away the office staff and visitors!
Thanks to Mrs. Dye for inviting me. Thanks to Coach West, Mr. Van Winkle (fellow Eagle Scout), and Mrs. Ferguson for all your help. Thanks to all the teachers and staff members who provided the tasty lunch; everything was delicious! And a big thanks to all the Martin Elementary students. I hope I made for a fun day at school after your spring break!
Today, my impromptu Read Across America Week tour had me at Washington Elementary in Green River, Wyoming! I was greeted with loads of cool welcome signs (I hear everyone in the school had a hand in making them), as well as a bunch of costumed characters from great books! Today was come as your favorite author or book character day. I saw Laura Ingalls, Thing 1 and Thing 2, and even a Jedi padawan!
Marlee and Me! Marlee is the one dressed as Cindy Lou Who from How the Grinch Stole Christmas (spoiler alert: Marlee has an empty water bottle holding up her towering hairdo!).
Today’s school appearance was also special because Mrs. Baker had already introduced everyone to one of my all time favorite projects—Wishbone! Remember, if you want to check out one of the episodes I co-wrote (as well as one that contains my brief cameo) you can find it HERE.
Thanks to Mrs. Baker for inviting me and a big thanks to all the kids from Washington Elementary. Good luck on your upcoming PAWS test and I hope you enjoy the special messages I left for you!
My very first school in Idaho was actually four schools in one! I spent time with all the great kids of Driggs Elmentary, Victor Elementary, Tetonia Elementary, and Rendezvous Upper Elementary! The gym was packed full of all the K-3rd graders for my first show and they really brought down the house! The 4th and 5th grade audience wasn’t quite as big but we had just as much fun!
For Lunch, Mrs. Bybee took me and two students out for Pizza! Leo and Whalen cashed in points on their Triple R cards (respectful, responsible, and ready) for a lunch with the principal and got me to tag along! It was great getting to know you guys.
After lunch, I gave two writing workshops to all the 5th graders where I had time to answer all of their writing questions that they couldn’t get out during the show. Remember, if anyone has more questions, they can always email me HERE.
Thanks to Mrs. Bybee for inviting me and setting everything up. Thanks to Mr. Starky for the tech support. Thanks to Mrs. Nelson for taking pictures (and the other teacher—I’m sorry I didn’t get your name). And a big thanks to all four schools for making my first trip to Idaho an exciting one!
Today I spent the morning with the bright young elementary and middle school students of Perdido School, in where else but Perdido, Alabama! Home of the Warriors, they all came out to play as we rocked the gym with laughter, singing, and some elephant noises (that you really have to be careful doing, otherwise you spray the person in front of you).
After my shows, I had the chance to sign a bunch of books and even got my picture taken with the school’s Battle of the Books team. Don’t know what that is? Check it out HERE. I wish they had this when I was in school.
Thanks to Mrs. Miller for inviting me and for being such a gracious host. Thanks to Mr. Duane for setting up everything. Thanks to Mrs. McDonald for taking pictures. Thanks to Miss Bess for the tasty snacks. Thanks to Coaches Ebert and Ryder for the use of the gym. And a big thanks to all Perdido Warriors! I hope you enjoyed my visit and best of luck with the Battle of the Books!
